Drug Overdose Prevention Information for Indiana

Per the Indiana State Department of Health, here are some updates about the prescription drug epidemic in Indiana.

Governor Holcomb introduced Indiana’s Next Level Recovery website to allow an entry point for all state resources to fight the opioid epidemic. The information and resources cover a wide variety of topics including prevention, treatment, enforcement, healthcare professionals and general information. To take advantage of the new resources visit in.gov/recovery/

The FDA will require immediate-release opioid makers to fund voluntary trainings available to health care professionals involved in pain management. All 74 manufacturers of immediate-release opioids will participate in the development of training which will include safe prescribing practices and consideration of non-opioid alternatives. Immediate-release opioids account for about 90 percent of opioids prescribed in the United States. For more information please visit their blog.

Indiana’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) known as INSPECT is hosting a webinar on October 19 entitled “INSPECT Integration: Getting the Data Physicians Need When Making Critical Prescribing Decisions.” This webinar will focus on how to understand the barriers and advantages of integration of the PDMP with electronic health records, how to put data directly into the hands of doctors making prescribing decisions, examine the integration process used by Deaconess hospital and gain tips for implementation within hospitals to work towards integration. For more information please visit: https://www.ismanet.org/ISMA/Registration/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=SEM171019

In June the Indiana State Department of Health began early stages of development for an Electronic Surveillance Systems for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) alert protocol to address drug overdose events in near real-time. The goal of sending alerts is to establish situational awareness for local health departments and hospital facilities, and provide an opportunity to begin a response dialogue at the local level. If you have not yet received an overdose alert and would like to notify us of your interest in the project, please reach out to Mandy Billman abillman@isdh.in.gov (317-232-3190) or Kayley Dotson kdotson@isdh.in.gov (317-233-7748).